GARDEN GROVE, CA - Metcal is pleased to award the winner of the third annual IPC APEX EXPO® Hand Soldering Competition and IPC World Championship with an MX-5210 Metcal Soldering System. Brian Wade, Sr. Tech with CAMtek, Inc., Bloomington, IL, also was awarded $1000 by the IPC.

Wade earned his way into the world championship by becoming the US champion the previous day, using the Metcal MX-5210 during the preliminary competition. He competed against eight other contestants from around the globe during the world championship round. Wade mentioned that he has used Metcal systems for many years.

Jerry Simmons, Marketing Manager, commented, “Metcal is very pleased that a long-time user of Metcal systems not only won the US Championship, but went on to win the World Championship, in impressive fashion. The IPC Hand Soldering Competition promotes high quality soldering standards throughout the electronics industry and we are happy to be a part of it.”

During this three-day competition, participants competed to build a functional electronics assembly in 30 minutes. Assemblies are judged on soldering in accordance with IPC-A-610E criteria, the speed at which the assembly was produced, and overall electrical functionality of assembly. IPC-A-610E Master Instructors served as the judges.